Just Another Pawn
by ThatOneFanficGuy
Summary: Ash has a fateful encounter on his birthday, giving him a newfound intelligence and aura. Now equipped with a new weapon, Ash goes on his journey throughout the pokemon world. But because of his unique circumstance, he's forced to watch as the facade of the world fades before his eyes. This story is focused on Ash's reasoning for his actions. Smart Ash.
1. Chapter 1: The Encounter

**Just Another Pawn**

 **Edited as of 3/26/2018**

 **Chapter One: Confrontation**

The world is an unreliable narrator. It is only perceived through a thin veil that masks its inner workings. Beyond this veil lies the ones who control perception; the ones who change the world on a whim.

But me...I was just another pawn. That may even be why I won. Because although the pawn doesn't have much strength in the beginning, it has the ability to become the strongest piece on the board.

o0O-O0o

"Ash, wake up!" my mom yelled.

My tenth birthday had finally come. Just five more years until I could go on my pokemon journey. I would have been ecstatic to go at ten, but that was illegal. Who sends a ten year old on a journey throughout the continent?

I ran out of my room in my pokemon pajamas, past the grandfather clock, and dashed to the stairs to greet my mom. Before I could get very far, I was halted by the aroma of pancakes filling my nose. With a toothy grin, I renewed my run with vigor, letting my hand slide down the railing.

I ran to the entrance of the kitchen to find five pancakes stacked on a plate. There was a square of butter on the center with maple syrup running down the edges. The thought of a surprise in the center crept into my mind, giving me a flurry of thoughts.

 _Oh! Maybe they have chocolate chips! Or M &M's! Butterscotch?! Caramel?! Maybe syrup!_

I stopped.

Before I could run to the table, a cold shiver made its way down my spine. I closed my eyes, letting the uncomfortable sensation pass by. Reopening my eyes, I turned to see my mom. She was walking toward me, but her movements were slow and sluggish, as though she was emulating the viscous nature of the syrup.

"Mom?" I asked, "Are you okay?"

Confused, I looked around the room. I noticed a faint blue hue before turning back to her.

"Mom?" I asked again, fear and urgency rising in my voice.

She ignored me as she slowed to a stop, completely frozen.

I rushed over to her, "Mom!"

I grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently, "Mom! What's wrong?!"

My eyes darted around. The blue hue was getting stronger and more prominent. My ears were ringing. My sight was blurry. I wanted to faint. A dark chuckle sounded behind me. I turned sharply to see a man in a dark cloak standing where I had stood before.

"What did you do to my mom?!" I shouted, assuming him to be the culprit.

He chuckled again, and spoke in a deep, gravelly voice, "I remember when I was your age. Not a care in the world, waiting to go on my pokemon journey. And when I finally went, everything was like a fantasy. Like in the stories I was told growing up. Then one day, my friend was killed in his sleep by a particularly wild Raticate." He moved to sit in a chair, "I was mortified, of course, but what surprised me the most was when people dressed in full black jumped out of the forest, picked up his dead body, and vanished. It was then I realized that being a pokemon trainer wasn't living a dream; it was believing a lie."

 _A lie? What does that mean? Who is he?! What's going on?!_

"Look kid, you're special. You may be the only person able to fix this hell hole we call earth. But for that to happen, you need to start training. Hard. I'll see you again when you're older. And when I do, I'll test you. You'd better be ready."

And just like that, he vanished.

"Honey? When did you get there?"

I sharply spun on my heels to see my mom, unfrozen, none-the-wiser of the visitor we'd just had.

 _What just happened?! Who was he?! Where'd he go?!_

I turned rapidly, looking everywhere for any signs of him. Anything! Alas, my body couldn't handle the stress. I fainted.

o0O-O0o

"Ash, wake up!" my mom yelled.

My eyes slowly blinked opened, but quickly widened as memories of the man surfaced to my thoughts. I turned to my clock. 8:00am.

 _...was it a dream?_

Confused, I got up to check my mother. I walked down the stairs, smelling the pancakes again, then reached the floor. I saw my mom standing near the counter like before. She seemed...fine.

"Happy birthday, honey!" she greeted me.

This didn't make any sense. It was as if the previous occurrence had never happened. There were no blue hues, no loud ringing, and no man. Nothing.

 _Was it a dream? I mean, everything's the same, so maybe not?_

 _Okay, I'll assume it wasn't a dream. Let's see...when mom woke me up, her voice was at a normal pace. That means the...thing...happened after I woke up. When I got downstairs, she was stopping slowly, not abruptly. That means however time stopped, it didn't happen instantly. The man said he's going to test me at some point. He'll probably freeze time again if that happens. I think I'll to need know how to stop it, so I need to know the_ __ _amount_ __ _of time it took to happen. And how he did it in the first place._

I closed my eyes and let my memory drift to when I exited my room. In my peripheral vision, I saw our grandfather clock at eight hours and twenty four seconds. I started counting the number of ticks until I noticed the time between each tick getting longer.

 _16 ticks from when I saw the clock, to when I saw my mom. The ticks started slowing down at about 10 ticks and it took my mom about 4 ticks to completely freeze from when I saw her. That means it took roughly 10 seconds for time to freeze. Wait, but if time was slowing down, wouldn't that be unreliable? Eh, whatever._

 _Well, that gives a time range, but what caused the time to freeze? Hmm. There was a ringing in my ears, a blue hue, and a man concealed in a black cloak. Was he in a cloak to hide his identity? Then me knowing who he is might be useful. What would happen if I found him? If he can freeze time, he probably isn't worried about me confronting him. I mean, he's probably way stronger. Maybe because it would hint at how he froze time? If I know who he is, maybe I can figure it out! He mentioned a group of people taking away his friend's corpse, so maybe he's a part of a smaller group that needs help? If that's the case-_

"Ash? Are you okay?"

I was brought back to reality. I was so caught up in figuring out what had happened, I had forgotten about my mom.

I punched my fist in the air, "Of course mom! It's my birthday!"

I prefered her to be unaware of what had happened. If she knew, she would probably just worry. I had no doubts my mom would notice if I got lost in thought again, so I opted to just sit down and eat my pancakes. I would have to go to Prof. Oak's library for information.

o0O-O0o

*Ding dong*

The doorbell rang. I was at Prof. Oak's ranch under the guise of wanting to read a story about pokemon. All things considered, it wasn't an outright lie; I was legitimately interested in pokemon.

The door opened, "Ah, Ash, what brings you here?"

I gathered all of the peppiness and excitement I could muster, "I'm getting ready for my pokemon journey!" I tilted my head, "I was wondering if I could use your library."

He laughed a bit, "It's quite rare to see such a young man take so much responsibility. Of course you can, Ash! If you ever want to access it again, don't bother asking!"

"Thanks, professor!"

I eagerly ran past him, leaving the smiling man in my wake. Without me noticing, the excitement I had forced quickly became real.

After browsing the library for a while, I came across a book, "Legend of the Aura". I saw a ball of blue light in the character's hand on the cover that struck me as very familiar to the blue hue. My curiosity peaked, I started to read. Despite the cheesiness of the title, it was surprisingly interesting! The story talked about these aura guardians - mythical heroes who defended the peace in secret. There were many tales of their accomplishments, but they didn't seem to possess enough power to freeze time.

 _Maybe it's not aura? Or maybe aura's just a part of it! Yeah!_

Surprisingly, my childish naivety was right about the relation.

After reading about half of one of the stories in the book, I asked the professor if I could borrow it. Though the book didn't contain pokemon, he let me take it without a second thought. He'd probably expected me to get distracted by a fantastical story in the first place.

The book explained aura as the energy that flows through all living things. Theoretically, anyone could control it, but it took a great deal of concentration to do so, much more than an average human being could muster. This was the first lead I'd found in the library, and my patience didn't want me to look for anything else, so I decided to study the book without another source.

It was very vague about how to control aura. The characters only had to meditate for a few days before demonstrating control, and they were rarely shown to train anymore for it. Apparently it "felt natural" to them. Sounds more like a lazy author to me.

I tried out the meditation. Every morning and night, I would sit down, and meditate. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't even sure if I was doing it right. It felt like trying to go to sleep, while trying to stay awake at the same time. It didn't really help that the book never actually _explained_ what meditation is. Though, I guess it did give me time to think about what had happened.

o0O-O0o

By the time the two weeks had passed, I began to feel something. I found that, while meditating, I could feel something if I focused hard enough. If I focused on my hand, it would start to feel...tingly. I didn't know if that was aura, but it was definitely something.

This discovery made me really excited, so I decided I would try to meditate outside, to see if it did anything new. The book explained it as being a part of nature, so it was worth a shot.

o0O-O0o

Another 2 weeks passed. Meditating outside didn't do shit, which was a bit disappointing. Aside from that failure, I could make the tingly sensation happen without meditating now. It had another feeling though, heat. Whenever I focused on my hand, it would feel a little warmer. I tried measuring it with a thermometer, but it never picked up anything. It was probably just in my head.

I'd also found that thinking seemed to be easier. I felt smarter than I did before. I was analyzing situations instinctively, instead of just winging it. It felt weird at first, but I quickly found myself enjoying planning ahead.

o0O-O0o

Four months passed since I found the book. The sensations felt much stronger. It could have just been my brain not wanting to be wrong, but if that was the case, it was _really_ good at tricking me.

I was meditating, focusing on my hand. Despite my intense concentration, I felt strangely relaxed. I guess meditation really does do something. I kept focusing, allowing a bead of sweat drop down my cheek. My hand felt more and more energized.

And then, it happened.

It felt...different. As if previously what had been trying to escape, had finally broken through its barrier. I slowly opened my eyes to see a faint glow around my hand.

 _Man, I really hope this isn't just my brain tricking me._


	2. Chapter 2: The Teacher

**Just Another Pawn**

 **Edited as of 3/26/2018**

 **Chapter 2: Teacher**

The encounter had happened 6 months ago. I'd like to say I had mastered aura at this point, but I was nowhere close. Either I was doing something wrong, or that book _vastly_ misunderstood the difficulty of controlling such a fickle energy. However, I had learned something. Unlike what was shown in the book, aura isn't only for attacking. It seemed to be far more focused on passive effects. At this point, I was trying to use it as supplementary energy for my muscles.

Although it wasn't very effective, I was using it often enough that aura was becoming instinctive to use in addition to my muscles. It worked as an amplifier of sorts, allowing my muscles to work a bit more efficiently. Surprisingly, it's greatest effect was increased reflexes. I had accidently caught dropped items that, by all accounts, I shouldn't have been able to catch. Even in front of my mother. She never noticed anything, as she didn't even know aura existed, but I tended to act suspiciously when it happened. I was going to have to tell her about the man soon. I couldn't hide it forever.

"Ash! It's time to go to Professor Oak's!" my mom yelled.

I had forgotten; the professor wanted to talk to me about something. I spent most of my time studying aura, so interruptions were quite bothersome. Alas, I didn't have a good excuse to avoid leaving, so I was forced to go.

o0O-O0o

'Ding dong,' the doorbell rang.

I was at professor Oak's lab, trying to think about why he wanted to see me. I pretty much had it down to "pokemon" or "some random thing he's never talked to me about before". He'd never shown much interest in teaching me about pokemon, so I assumed he wanted to talk to me about something random.

The door opened, "Ah, Ash! Welcome! Come on in!"

I walked inside. The lab really hadn't changed since when I came for a book on aura. In fact - besides some different papers, and a lack of furniture - it looked exactly the same. And whilst the lack of furniture was definitely strange, considering he'd invited a guest over, nothing really caught my eye.

"So what did you want to talk to me about, professor?" I asked.

Professor Oak chuckled, "Getting right to the point, I see. Tell me, do you know how a change in a person occurs?"

 _How a change occurs? Weird question._

"Well, the more you do one thing, the more your brain wants you to do it. It's how you get an addiction. Though change is very gradual, I guess the point of change is when you actually start doing something new, something that's not a part of your normal routine."

"Well said! Why does someone start breaking from routine in the first place?" he asked me.

 _What's with these strange questions?_

I scratched my chin, "I guess when a 3rd party source introduces or reintroduces something new?"

"Correct again! What would you say is the shortest amount of time for someone to change?" he asked.

"Umm, a couple months, I suppose?"

I saw a barely noticeable smirk on the professor's face, "So not a few days?"

 _I literally_ just _said a couple months._

"No, I don't think so," I answered, getting agitated.

"If a change were to occur that fast to someone, how would you think it happened?" he asked, still sounding perfectly innocent.

I grit my teeth.

 _Is this his way of saying I'm wrong? Rude._

"I would say a direct change was made to the person. Someone, somehow, changed the person's body or personality," I replied.

 _Get to the point._

"A direct change, hmm? So, if the body started using a new force to carry out tasks, what would happen?" he asked.

 _...he knows. How does he know?! I never told anyone! He's the man from that day!_

"Well I guess the body wou-" I stopped mid sentence to deliver a punch to his gut. As my fist approached contact, however, he disappeared.

 _Was that aura? Regardless, the easiest place for him to hit me is my back. That's where he'll be._

My right leg sloppily flew behind me in hopes that I was right. It collided with the professor's forearm which was up in some sort of block.

' _Something's not right. Although he seems to know how to fight, as well as use aura, I haven't noticed time getting slower. If he was the person from the occurrence, surely he would have by now. I mean, it wouldn't be good for someone to walk in on you fighting someone, especially a kid._

 _I see only two options as to why he wouldn't have used it yet. Number one, maybe stopping time takes some sort of preparation. However, I would presume that if it did take preparation, he would have already been prepared before I got here. After all, he was probably expecting a fight. Though, I guess that explains the lack of furniture. Option number two...he doesn't know how to, meaning he isn't the man from that day..._

Suddenly, Professor Oak disappeared again and I felt a kick slam into my back. I landed on my knees and elbows from the impact with my mouth slightly agape from strike.

"You're not him," I whispered, completely still.

That caught the professor off guard, "Not who?"

"Who are you? I mean, who are you really? You're obviously not some frail, old professor."

The professor sat on a chair that seemingly came out of nowhere, "I think you know the answer to that question, my boy. I'm an aura guardian. I help keep the peace in the world. Though I admit, with the relative peace lately, I haven't had to do much. Tell me boy, what do you know about aura?"

I sighed. Of all of the things I thought he might want to talk about, aura was not one of them. I mean seriously, who would think that someone like him fought evil? He looked like he would drift away like dust from a light breeze.

"Aura is what flows through all living things. It's the energy that gives life. Humans normally refer to it as the soul. When someone learns how to manipulate aura, they can use it to perform supernatural acts. However, manipulating aura take a great deal of concentration. So great, in fact, that it has become a lost art. Or, at least, I thought it had," I told him.

The professor was scratching the scruff on his chin. He seemed to be in deep thought about what I just said.

"Very impressive, Ash. The book I gave you only talked about the supernatural acts. I think I know what's been keeping you busy all these days. Though I'm curious, where did you get a sudden interest in aura?" he asked.

I sighed yet again, and explained everything that happened that fateful day. I explained it multiple times in different perspectives. Explained my thought process of what had happened. Heck, I even talked about my training in the last 6 months and what I was thinking while here. After a few hours of a completely one-sided conversation, I finished.

"You've been quite the busy bee, Ash. I'm especially impressed with how you were able to predict I was behind you. My thought process has never been fast enough to deduce things like that in the middle of a fight. However, I'm concerned with what this man did to you. He seems to have jump started something in your mind. I don't mean to be rude, but 6 months ago, you weren't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. But in mere days, your intelligence took a complete 180. You are far smarter than you were back then.

"I'd like to make a proposition. I'd like to train you in aura and pokemon. Although meditation is a great way to start your training, it's _only_ great for starting your training. After a couple of months, a person will normally start more intensive training. From now until your pokemon journey, I'd like to be your teacher."

I'd love to say I was surprised by this, but honestly, I'd seen it coming. Why would he take time out of his day to have me come here, only to have a conversation on aura? There's no gain for him and very little gain for me.

Offering a teaching position would be a great way for him to get back into shape, and a great way for me to learn aura. I hadn't expected him to want to teach me about pokemon as well, but I guess if I'd go on a pokemon journey, I'd need to actually know something about pokemon. Imagine what would happen if I didn't; I'd probably do something dumb, like have a pikachu face an onix.

"I accept your proposition. I will become your student in aura."


	3. Chapter 3: The First Pokemon

**Just Another Pawn**

 **Edited as of 3/26/2018**

 **Chapter 3: The First Pokemon**

 **5 Years Later**

"Ash, wake up!" my mom yelled.

I was in my clothes and out of my room in record time. I was finally starting my pokemon journey! Aura is fun and all, but sometimes it's nice to take a break.

I ran down the stairs, letting my hand glide down the railing. The aroma of pancakes slowed my pace to a stop at the bottom. A childish grin grew on my features, prompting me to run to the kitchen. My suspicions were confirmed. There was a stack of 6 pancakes on a plate with a square of butter on top and streams of syrup flowing down the sides.

My heart stopped. The similarities were uncanny. The pancakes, the aroma, the setup. I rapidly turned left and right, looking for the man.

My mom giggled, "Honey, nothing's happened. You've got to stop being so paranoid! Caution is a good, paranoia is not."

I sighed, letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I walked over to the chair to start eating my pancakes. I didn't have to be at the professor's for at least another hour, so I had time.

I absently let my mind wander to the day the professor took me in as an apprentice. The training he gave me was definitely different than what I had expected. In fact, most of the training was on pokemon and logical reasoning while practising menial aura exercises in the background. As he put it, "Control over your aura will make using it in the future much easier". So far, I'm pretty sure he was just too lazy to teach me anything useful about aura. Bastard.

Half an hour passed before my mind had caught up to my body. I was greeted to the sight of my mom holding up my backpack to me, a few tears flowing down her face.

"Be *sniff* careful out there honey. I don't want to lose my son!"

She broke into tears.

I set my backpack on the floor, then walked up and hugged her, lightly patting her back.

"I'm gonna be fine, mom. Besides, don't you think this is kind of insulting? I've trained under professor Oak for 5 years, and this is your confidence in me?" I joked.

She cracked a small smile, "*sniff* You're right, honey," she let go of the hug, and sternly grabbed my shoulders. "You'd better be okay then! If I don't hear from you in one week, I'm calling the police to find you!"

A bead of sweat dripped down my temple. It always surprised me how fast my mother could change her emotions.

I ran to the door, flinging my backpack over my shoulders, "Okay, mom! See you then!"

I ran out the door, sprinting to professor Oak's lab.

o0O-O0o

I couldn't resist the smile tempting my face when I saw the lab coming into the distance. I wasn't sure when I had stopped running, but I'm glad I did. The day was perfect! It was almost as if Arceus himself knew this was the first day of my pokemon journey.

As I started getting closer, I saw a red convertible parked just outside the lab.

 _Weird, I don't remember professor Oak owning such a nice car._

I rang the doorbell of the lab.

"Ahh, Ash! I'm glad you could make it. Please, come in!"

I walked in to see a not-so-familiar sight. Instead of the normal lab equipment, there was only a single pedestal containing three pokeballs. Left to right, there was Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur.

"Ash, there is a bench next to the door you can sit on while you wait," the professor said from his chair at a computer.

 _Wow, he got to his chair fast. Though, I guess that shouldn't surprise me._

I walked over and sat on the bench.

 _Which pokemon do I want? There's the brawn of charizard, the defence of blastoise, and the support of venusaur. Does it really matter? Regardless of what I get, I'm sure I can make it work. Eh, whatever, I'll just take whatever's left._

A minute passed, and another kid slammed the door open.

"Hey gramps, where's my pokemon?" the kid asked cockily.

Gary Oak, the professor's grandson, sometimes assistant. He wasn't a bad kid, but he was annoying as hell. His arrogance was so high, I wondered if he even saw the people below it.

"You'll have to wait Gary, only you and Ash have arrived so far."

That's when Gary took notice of me. We'd never been on good terms. He always accused of me of "stealing his grandfather". He tried to pretend I didn't exist. Whenever he did see me, he never saw someone skilled or smart. Nope, I was just that one annoying kid. Though, I guess that's how I saw him too.

"Whatever," Gary replied defiantly.

He walked over and sat by me. We sat in relative silence, no more than the occasional sniff, until the door slammed open once again. Two kids walked in. One was a shorter guy with brown hair and pale skin; he looked painfully innocent. The other was taller with a dark blue mohawk and very tanned skin.

 _Hasn't anyone ever heard of manners?_

"Sorry we're late!" the short one frantically yelled, "We got lost on the way from Viridian! We didn't mean to be late! We're sorry!"

I looked at the clock. 8:57

"You're 3 minutes _early_. Stop throwing a hissy fit and sit down. We don't need two idiots without enough of a brain to have a simple sense of time. I'm sure we'll get our pokemon when the professor's ready."

Apparently, I had offended them. Truth be told, I wanted to see their reaction. If they blew up, they probably wouldn't make it too far. If they didn't, at least they had a level head.

The tanned one spoke up this time, "What'd you say! I'll beat yo ass all the way to Kalos! Don't mess with us! If you got a problem wit' us, then fight us!"

The pale one slowly walked backwards and tried to fade into the background.

I stood up, ready to stop the guy if he attacked me. I don't like judging by appearances, but he looked like the type of guy who'd punch you because of a wrong look.

And he did! He ran at me, right fist pulled back next to his head. I sighed, such a brute tactic. A second before his fist collided with me, I tilted my head to the right just enough to make a gap for his fist to fly through. As it passed by, I kneed him in the gut, causing him to spit up saliva.

"ENOUGH! I WILL NOT HAVE THIS FIGHTING IN MY LAB! SIT DOWN AND YOU'LL GET YOUR POKEMON," professor Oak yelled.

Even I was scared. The tension in the air was practically _smellable_ \- or, actually, that scent probably belonged to someone else.

We all sat down on the bench, too afraid to move or speak. A minute of chilling silence passed before the professor decided to break the tension.

"Okay everyone, come up here and we'll decide who gets what pokemon," he said, annoyance slipping through his words.

We all walked to the pedestal.

"As you may have noticed, we only have 3 pokemon. Fear not, there is an extra pokemon, but he is very unruly. I'll let you decide who takes it."

"What pokemon is it?" the pale kid asked.

"While it isn't a rare pokemon, I won't tell you what it is. I don't want its species to influence your decision on taking or not."

With no one saying anything, I spoke, "I'll take it. I don't care how unruly he is, he'll learn to cooperate."

Unsurprised by my proclamation, the professor nodded, "In that case you may debate on who gets which of the three pokemon."

"I get the squirtle, and that's not gonna change!" Gary yelled.

"I'll take the charmander! That's one kick-ass pokemon right there!" the tanned kid shouted.

"I-I guess I'll take the bulbasaur..." the last kid said shyly.

 _Damn, decided that fast?_

Within 2 minutes, it was just me and professor Oak, "Thank you for waiting, Ash. We'll get your pokemon next."

The professor hit a button on the pedestal, and a new platform came out with the last pokeball.

"Well, Ash my boy, here is your first pokemon. But be warned, I wasn't exaggerating when I said this pokemon was unruly. I can't even let it out of its _pokeball_ without being shocked."

I smirked, "So it's an electric type pokemon?"

Professor Oak cursed under his breath, "Yes, it is. Now stop letting me reveal information! Go travel!"

A smile, on my face, I walked out of the lab. That smile only grew as I saw my mother standing near the porch, waiting for me.

She ran up to me, "Oh Ashyyyyy," she clutched my torso, "I'm gonna miss you so muuuuuuch!"

I accepted her embrace with a smile, "Me too mom, me too."

I left in silence, not wanting to ruin the moment.

o0O-O0o

I was in a large field outlined by trees. I'd been walking for about 30 minutes, all the time wondering about which pokemon I got. I had suspicions that it would be a pikachu due to its population in this area, but that was a guess at best. With all of the pokemon people sent the professor, it could really be anything.

"Well, now's the best time I'm gonna get," I muttered, pulling out the pokeball.

I threw the ball with all of my strength (which turned out to be a tad too much) and watched as the pokemon was released in a flash of white light. I was right, it was a pikachu. Within moments, a Thundershock was launched at me.

 _A rambunctious one, isn't he?_

I stepped to the side, neatly avoiding the thundershock.

"That's quite a punch for a thundershock. Slow as hell though, don't you think? Avoiding an attack should _not_ be that easy."

The pikachu glared at me.

I started pacing, "You're a haughty little guy, eh? Let me guess it's the whole 'I have something that makes me special, so I'm better than you' speal? Judging by that thundershock," I look toward the seared grass, "I'd say your electric sacs are larger than normal?"

"Pika!" he shouted, electricity dancing around his cheeks.

"As I thought. Well, to start us off, let me just say that you aren't special. You aren't. You may have large sacs, but what about the pikachu who's faster? Or the one who packs a mean tackle? What makes you better than them? Nothing. A completely average pikachu would beat you if it had a drive."

He looked at me skeptically.

"Let's say, hypothetically, there's a pikachu out there who trains himself into the ground each and every day, pushing his limits more and more. While this pikachu is becoming as strong as he can be, you're sunbathing, content that you're special. Then you two fight. You try to end it quickly by using your thundershocks, only to see the pikachu dodging them with ease and returning even stronger thundershocks. Now this pikachu is beating your ass to next week and you can't do anything about it. So what was the difference between you two?

"That pikachu knew he wasn't special, so he trained. Sure you had a boost in power from birth, but overtime, that pikachu overcame that boost. He made himself stronger than you, and beat you. The only way you can truly be special, is to first realize that you _aren't_."

The pikachu looked in thought. He'd always thought he could beat any other pikachu through his advantage; he'd never thought about his opponent taking that away.

"So, how about you let me help you become _truly_ special."

He turned away defiantly.

I sighed, professor Oak wasn't kidding, "So lemme guess, even if you agree with my previous statement, you don't think a 'puny human' could help you?"

The pikachu gave a defiant nod.

"Okay, let's change topics then. So a pokemon is better than a human. Why? What makes them better? Well, the obvious answer is a pokemon has special abilities. That gives you the overall advantage. But it's the same thing with as before with the other pikachu. Although you have large sacs, another pikachu has better speed. Although pokemon have special abilities, humans have a stronger intellect. Before you get pissy, I'm not trying to belittle you. I'm not calling you dumb, I'm calling myself smarter. Have you ever wondered why a pokemon trainer gives the pokemon orders in a battle? Most just assume it's because the pokemon are focused on attacking. If this is the case, however, why don't battles between humans work the same way? We don't have people giving us orders, we just fight. We can think of and modify strategies much faster than pokemon. Some humans can't and some humans can exceptionally well. We have the brain, you have the brawn. This is why wild pokemon are generally weaker than trained pokemon."

The pikachu didn't seem very convinced by this.

"Fine, let me show you."

I kneeled down and picked up a small rock. I lightly tossed it in my hand before throwing it at a tree, causing an angry spearow to fly out and dive at me. When it was about to hit me with Peck, I twisted out of the way, grabbed its body, and guided it into the ground. Once it was through, I put my foot on it, keeping it from getting itself out.

"You see that? I used a simple tactic, redirecting his force. It's simple and effective. I, a puny human, beat a spearow. Sure, it's not the strongest pokemon in the bunch, but it's still a pokemon. I didn't just grapple the guy either, I used a tactic. Albeit, a common and simple tactic, but a tactic nonetheless. But now do you understand? A pokemon isn't better than a human. Now, I'm not trying to say humans are better than pokemon. You can bet that I'd get my ass kicked if I went up against a charizard, probably die too. What I'm trying to say is, we're not better than the other, we are equals. I don't want to be yours 'boss' or 'master', I want to be your friend. Can we come to an agreement? If you decide you don't like it, then fine. You have my permission to leave. Otherwise though, let's give it a shot. Whadduya say?"

The pikachu mulled it over for a minute, weighing the pros and cons, but ultimately jumped onto my shoulder. He didn't look exactly 'happy' about it, more neutral than anything, but was willing to try out a partnership. My hand hovered over his pokeball, but retracted when I felt him tense on my shoulder.

Without warning, a small spark of electricity struck my shoulder. My focus turned to Pikachu, who had sparks flying across his cheeks, and a scowl just below. I looked to where Pikachu was facing.

 _Shit..._

Many spearow were spread across the trees, all with glares filled with contempt. I'm not stupid, I know no strategy or tactic is going to defeat the flock. I cradled Pikachu into my arms, and I ran. The speed boost my quickly increasing adrenaline gave me quite was surprising. I ran faster than I could remember running before. But even that wasn't fast enough to outpace the spearow, so I channeled aura into my legs to increase my speed even more. Without much practise with direct augmentation, I wasn't able to as much speed as I had hoped, but anything was helpful. I was hoping pikachu wouldn't notice, the small, translucent wisps of energy dripping from my legs, but there wasn't much I could do about that.

Eventually, we came across a waterfall. I've never had any doubts about my swimming abilities, but these were rapid torrents. Jumping in was practically asking for injury, but then again, facing the group of spearow was almost certain death. I dived in. The thought of death was very strong in my mind, but I'd be damned if I went out without a fight. I tried to flow through the currents as well as I could, letting them take of our speed.

When I was finally certain we'd escape the spearow, the river calmed down. Our speed was slowing down fast, and I was running out of oxygen. Poor pikachu probably already fainted. I cracked my eyes open, willing a thin sheet of aura to keep my eyes as protected as possible. It didn't work, but it made me feel better.

A fishing line.

 _It looks like Arceus doesn't want me to die just yet. My luck'll save me for now._

I grabbed onto the line and yanked it. The fisher felt the tug, and pulled me out. I even heard a shout of "It's a big one!" muffled by the water in my ears.

The fisher was a girl with short orange hair, but ultimately unimportant. My luck decided to strike again though; I saw a bike. Jumping onto it, I shouted a quick apology to the girl, and pedaled as hard as I could. I'd never ridden a bike before, but I figured out the balance in seconds.

A drop of water splashed against my face. The winds picked up, and that drop became several. In mere seconds, a storm broke out. I could hear the squawking of the spearow as they continued their hunt. No matter how fast I was going, when dirt turned to mud, I quickly lost my balance and fell off.

But I couldn't stop yet. I picked my sprint back up, and ran as fast as I could. The spearow were loud, dwarfed only by the thunder that boomed over us. Pikachu coughed out water, and wiggled free of my grasp, causing me to trip. I now knew the bitter taste of mud.

I shakily got onto my feet, and faced the spearow with a glare, "I don't care what you do to me. Feast on my flesh, tear me apart limb from limb for your amusement. But hear this, I will NOT let you take Pikachu. Whether I die here or not, I will protect my friends!"

I quickly start started calculating different strategies of attack whilst concentrating inside of me. This was deemed unnecessary, though (thank goodness), as it seemed pikachu found something in my short speech. He leapt onto my shoulder, leapt at the spearow, and fired a Thundershock. My luck really didn't want me to die, as a bolt of lightning struck pikachu, supercharging the bolt.

 _Of course he has Lightning Rod._

The attack _fried_ the spearow. That was, hands down, the strongest Thundershock I'd ever seen. If anything, it looked more like a Thunder attack! The moment was short lived though, as I felt my adrenaline rush fade, leaving me as an unconscious body out on the ground. Well, I guess that's better than death, right?


	4. Chapter 4: A Friend?

**Just Another Pawn**

 **Edited as of 3/26/2018**

 **Chapter 4: A friend...?**

"nngghh," I groaned, blinking my eyes open.

My vision cleared revealing a plain, white room, stinging my eyes through the reflected light. I was lying on an uncomfortable white bed with a generic wooden table next to me.

 _Looks like a hospital room. Why the hell am I in a hospital?_

My eyes quickly widened as images of the spearow flashed before my eyes. I flew out of the bed and out the room, dashing through the halls before a conscious thought could reach my head. When my mind finally began to catch up with my body, I registered myself being in the lobby.

"You can't leave yet, you need to get more rest!" a feminine voice called out to me.

I sharply spun on my heels to see Nurse Joy standing there, looking more than a little peeved.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down, then scratched the back of my head sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I wanted to check on my pikachu."

Nurse Joy sighed, "It's fine, you were only suffering from exhaustion anyways. But you had better stop training your pokemon so hard! It's condition-"

"His," I said, cutting her off, "His condition. He's not an it."

The nurse looked at me strangely, " _His_ condition was terrible! If you have enough kindness to think about pronouns, you have enough kindness to not work your pokemon so hard!"

I sighed deeply. It really annoyed me how she jumped to a conclusion so fast. This was a dangerous world, there are quite a lot of things that can go wrong besides training.

I looked her straight in the eye, "Look, his condition wasn't from training. We were being chased from a flock of spearow, and, in all reality, should have died. Granted, I did provoke one of the spearow before it happened, but I don't want you saying that I purposely did that to a living being."

At the mention of death, Nurse Joy's face grew sorrowful, "I'm sorry, it's just ...there was a trainer who came in here not too long ago with a squirtle who was in absolutely _terrible_ condition, I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions." Nurse Joy then made a sudden 180 in her attitude, and began scolding me, "But you had better stop provoking pokemon if this is what it leads to! We don't need dead trainers showing up!"

I gave a soft smile; this woman reminded me of my mom with the quick change of attitude, "I will. Is pikachu okay?"

She sighed once more, "You're lucky our technology is so advanced, he's doing fine. However, please refrain from training him for 1 to 2 days. I'll go get him for you."

I turned around to sit down, only to be greeted by a girl giving me a deathly glare.

 _She looks familiar..._

"Hey you! I want my bike back!"

 _Ahh right, I stole her bike. Man, she's gonna be_ pissed _when she learns it's fried..._

"I'm sorry, but I don't have your bike anymore. You see, it was fried by lightning when pikachu and I were trying to get away from the angry spearow flock."

"Well you better get me a new one! I use that bike to travel, and I won't be walking because some stranger decided to steal it!"

I smiled, slightly amused; she had completely ignored what I said about the spearow.

"How about this, I'll get you a new bike. In return, you have to tell me what you know about water pokemon. The name's Ash, by the way."

The girl's face grew panicked, ash she recoiled at my words, "W-What makes you think I know about water pokemon...?"

I gave her a confused glance. Surely she knew about water pokemon; she _ran_ the Cerulean City gym!

 _Unless she's try to hide that fact..._

I quickly replaced my expression with ignorant happiness, "How about we talk somewhere else when I get pikachu back?"

Realizing I was trying to help her hide who she was, the she quickly tried to school her shock, "Y-Yeah! Okay, that'll be okay."

o0O-O0o

"So why are you hiding who you are?"

We were in a clearing in the Viridian forest. We sat on two adjacent stumps facing each other while pikachu ran around getting used to the area.

The girl sighed, "You probably know my sisters if you know who I am. 'The Sensational Sisters', known for their water ballet - as they like to call it. They get everything they want in life, but me? I'm known as 'The Runt', 'The _Other_ One', _'The Mistake'_. I left there hoping to get rid of the negative attention. I'm ridiculed enough in my own town, after I left; I was hoping to become something more than that! But I guess it's who I am now."

I quirked my eyebrows, "Really? My teacher always said that The Sensational Sisters were just dancers, not trainers; that you were the only one with any real talent. I guess some people just can't see past flashier skills. Though I admit, I don't actually remember any of your names, could I have yours?"

The girl's eyes widened throughout the statement, grateful that there were people who respected her over her sisters.

"My name is Misty Waterflower, Gym Leader of the Cerulean City Gym!" she beamed.

I gave a soft smile, "It's nice to meet you, Misty."

A few minutes of silence passed. Surprisingly though, it wasn't awkward. It felt nice to just sit back, and enjoy the cool breeze.

The silence didn't last long though, as Misty soon came to a realization, "Hey, wait a minute! You still owe me a bike!"

 _She just now remembered this?_

I quickly raised my arms in defence of her words, "I know! I promise, I'll get it fixed. My teacher knows a lot of people around the region, I'm sure he knows someone who can get the job done."

Misty gave me a quizzical look."This is the second time you've mentioned your teacher. Who is he?"

"Oh, my teacher is Professor Oak of Pallet Town. You know, the guy who does research and gives out starters?"

Misty's eyes widened in shock as she stumbled out a reply, "Y-You're his Apprentice? The genius?! The prodigy among prodigies?!"

I smiled sheepishly, "Y-Yeah...that one. I didn't really realize he bragged about me so much."

Misty looked at me with new eyes. It was as if as that small amount of information completely changed who I was to her, and, in all honesty, that was likely the case. I hadn't realized it at the time, but the "apprentice of Professor Oak" was actually quite popular.

"Professor Oak was expecting a call from me once I got here anyways, so I'll ask him about the bike then. Is that okay?"

Coming back to reality, Misty gave me a half-hearted glare, "Fine. But you had better do it soon, Ash Ketchum!"

At that moment, it was as if time stood still. Leaves were suspended in the air, Misty's expression was frozen, nothing moved.

 _Ketchum? How did she know my last name? I never gave it to her, and she never showed any signs of knowing the name of Professor Oak's apprentice. She didn't even recognize the name 'Ash'._

"How did you know my last name? I only gave you my first name."

I thought I saw of a look of shock spread across her face, but it was gone so fast, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

She gave me a happy smile, "What do you mean? You're Professor Oak's apprentice; of course I know your name."

 _An obvious lie. That display of emotion is out of character for her, especially since she was angry with me just moments earlier. Not only that, but it was clear from the get-go that she didn't know the name of the Professor's student. I don't know what she's hiding, but I should probably be a little wary. Who knows though, maybe she's just embarrassed that she already knew me._

I gave a nice smile, "Then let's go call Professor Oak!"

o0O-O0o

The keyboard on the computer made soft beeps as I imputed the Professor's phone number. Soft music wafted from the speakers as I waited for Professor Oak to answer, the phone already up to my ear.

A flash of static flashed across the screen as Professor Oak appeared, a cup of tea in his hand and a contented smile across his face, "Ahh, Ash my boy! I see you've made it to Viridian City already! You made it there surprisingly fast; did you not care for the scenery?"

I gave him a sheepish smile, and scratched the back of my head, "It was great, but I accidentally aggravated a flock of spearow."

I went on to tell him about what had happened. Talking about the bike, pikachu's ability, and imminent death. I even mentioned the embarrassing the speech I gave pikachu.

"Hmm, you had quite the eventful day," Professor Oak scratched his chin, "but I would have wished you had called me sooner. After all, it's not everyday you nearly lose your apprentice."

I dipped my head down in shame, "I'm sorry professor, a lot has happened and I didn't have any particularly good times to call you. However, I was wondering if you knew anybody who could repair a bike for me? Pikachu's supercharged thundershock destroyed the girl's bike."

The professor mumbled incoherent nothings to himself, "Hmm, I suppose I do know someone. He isn't cheap, but he does the best repairs I've ever seen. He's a man by the name of Flint in Pewter City. If I'm not mistaken, that's where you're headed next, so you won't have to make any detours to get there."

I gave a thoughtful look, "Is that so? Huh, who would have guessed there was someone so close? That actually reminds me, I'll have to do some training with pikachu or else he won't fair well against the gym. Oh crap! Misty, could you go get Pikachu?! I can't believe I forgot him!"

Misty, seeing my panic, quickly ran off to get him.

I turned to the computer with a straight face, "Professor Oak, did you ever give out my name?"

He looked confused, "Of course not, you told me not to. I've mentioned having an apprentice, but no names. Why do you ask?"

 _So I was right, Misty was lying. But why would she cover up the reason for knowing my name?_

"I'll tell you later in more privacy. For now though, could you look into the Gym Leaders of Cerulean City?"

The Professor quirked his brow, "I can do that, yes, but I want to hear about the reasoning for this as soon as possible. You're starting to scare me, Ash."

"That won't be a problem. But for now, let's keep this...private."

 _Damn, I sound cool right now._


	5. Chapter 5: Weak, but With Potential

**Just Another Pawn**

 **Edited as of 3/26/2018**

 **Chapter 5: Weak, but With Potential**

Throughout the 5 years with Professor Oak, I trained religiously. Whenever I wasn't studying pokemon or aura - which was quite often - you could find me training my body and mind. I had even found a way to meditate while training, taking advantage of the tedious repetition that often ensued. There was no slacking off.

Pikachu and I sat in the same clearing I had talked to Misty in. The clearing itself was quite small, consisting of only 2 small stumps. That was the reason I chose it. A big part of fighting is using your surroundings against your opponent, hence why I made Pikachu explore it when I had my talk with Misty.

I sat on the same stump as last time, while Pikachu took Misty's.

"I promised to make you stronger Pikachu, and I plan to uphold that promise."

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled, flexing his skinny yellow arms before running to the ground to do push-ups.

"Hold on there, buddy," I laughed. "I may have said strength, but that doesn't mean physical strength. No, first we will focus on more….minute parts of fighting. Here's what we'll do. Close your eyes. Focus on every single noise you can hear. Any rustling, leaves falling, pidgeys chirping. Everything, no matter how small."

Though surprised by the relaxing nature of the training, Pikachu slowly sat down and listened. He was quite fidgety at first, but I could see a sense of serenity wash over his body as he began to lose himself in the noises. However, the point of this exercise was not serenity; it was to make him rely on his hearing more. Sound has a 360 degree vision - better than eyesight.

I threw a rock directly behind him to keep him from getting too comfortable. The sudden sound disrupted the calm he was experiencing. Pikachu's eyes snapped opened, and he reflexively jumped into a battle position.

"Don't get too comfortable. It lowers your guard, making a simple noise sound like a threat. Now let's start the actual training. While you have your eyes closed, I want you to focus on my position. Using the best of your abilities, follow my movements. Always face me."

I started a calm stride, not trying to conceal my position. I walked in a simple circle around him, occasionally making a 180° turn to go in the opposite direction. Seeing he was doing fine with this exercise, I branched out a bit. Instead of walking around him, I walked in random directions. Although he seemed a little slower on keeping up with my movements, he was able to keep my general direction. Stepping up the training further, I started to conceal my footsteps to a minute extent. It was at this point that he seemed to lose track of me. Concealing my footsteps even more, I smoothly walked up behind him and knelt down.

"Hi there."

Pikachu's eyes snapped open for the second time that day. He didn't jump away this time - a promising sign - instead opting to turn and face me. A newfound respect shone from his eyes.

"You did pretty good. However, it seems you were having difficulty hearing my steps with all of the other sounds in the forest. We'll be doing this daily, so you'll get better. And although it's not the purpose, this doubles as help for meditation, which in turn will help you differentiate the different noises. A pretty clever exercise, I think."

The multi-purpose was completely accidental.

I stood up and walked to the edge of the clearing, "Now it's time for a game of tag. The only thing you need to do is touch me. Though be warned, I'm a bit more agile than your average human."

With that said, I held up 3 fingers. As each second passed by, I moved one finger into the ball of my hand. Once my hand had formed a fist, Pikachu launched straight at me.

 _No white streak? Either he doesn't know Agility, or he's underestimating me. Whatever the case, he just lost a point._

Deciding not to let him get close, I jumped several feet into the air and landed on a branch. Pikachu visibly slowed down in shock at the feat. Not one to go easy, I continued to jump from branch to branch. It didn't take long for Pikachu to realize he needed to step up his game.

About 15 seconds into the chase, and Pikachu still had yet to use Agility. It annoyed me that he hadn't learned such a basic move, but I sucked it up and continued on with the training.

We went on for roughly 5 minutes of chasing. I made sure not to stay on the branches so I could see how well Pikachu fared in other areas. Honestly, it was disappointing. He got winded so fast, it made me wonder why the guy had ever been cocky in the first place. It was time to stop. I upped my speed and disappeared from his sight, only to reappear behind him the next second and pick him up.

"Well, this was just sad. I had intended to train you for longer, but you need more basic training. Arceus knows you aren't ready for training against an opponent."

I ran back to the clearing, weaving through trees and bushes alike. Once we arrived, I set him back down on one of the stumps.

I gave him a disapproving stare, "We'll start with more basic exercises. Given your species, speed is going to be one of your strengths. We'll work on boosting that and hopefully getting you up to agility speeds. To go with that, we'll need to work on your cardio. Being fast doesn't help if you can't keep it up. Thankfully, cardio increases while working on speed, so there won't be too much trouble there."

I stood up and walked to the edge of the clearing, "Here's how we'll start; I want you to run up to me, tag me, then run back to that stump. Do this as fast as you can."

I held up my hand and, in a sharp movement, threw it down. Pikachu raced at me with a vigor that reminded me of myself. It seemed he was realizing that I actually _could_ make him stronger. Still, his speed was disappointing. By the time he got back to the stump, he was breathing hard.

"Pika!" he shouted, a visible smirk across his face.

I walked up to him and gave a deep sigh, "What are you smirking about? That was pitiful."

It was then that pikachu started to get angry.

"Pika!" he yelled.

I rolled my eyes.

 _This might be a waste of time_.

My eye roll was the last bit of encouragement he needed. Giving a war cry, Pikachu tackled me with every ounce of strength in his body. It was powerful enough to make me lose my footing.

 _What the hell? Just seconds ago he was showing himself incapable of such power!_

I caught Pikachu as his body was pressed against my chest and put him on the ground.

"Hmm, that was interesting. Although I couldn't say for sure, I think you used some form of aura."

Pikachu tilted his head in confusion, still peeved at my early dismissal of him.

"Aura is the energy that flows through all living beings. If you are capable of a large amount of focus, you can manipulate this energy to give yourself a boost in power. However, my teacher always told me only humans and a handful of pokemon are able to use it."

 _Was the Professor wrong? How else could his sudden boost in power be explained?_

"Okay Pikachu, here's what we'll do. We're going to start meditation a little earlier than I had planned. To help you get a hang of it faster, I'm going to explain to you what meditation _is._ "

I walked him over to a patch of green grass and had him sit next to me.

"Meditation is a mixture of two things: relaxation, and focus. Achieving relaxation is quite simple. A basic method is taking long, deep breaths. Simple, but effective.

You can also repeat a mantra; something simple, like 'I am relaxed. I am calm,' etcetera - though this is generally best for when you're already in a meditative state.

And one of my personal favorites, imagery. Simply imagining a limb is relaxed will help it relax. Or imagining you're on a beach, will make you feel like you're on a beach.

Of course, eventually, you won't need to use any of these. You'll be able to calm yourself in a matter of seconds just by thinking about it.

"Second is focus. Whenever you meditate, it's normally a good idea to set a goal. Generally this goal would be to sort out a problem in your life, but it could really be anything. This goal is your focus. Without it, you'd probably just fall asleep.

"I'm going to walk you through it. You'll find it's quite simple."

 _I'll do something akin to a hypnosis induction._

"Okay, I want you to start with deep breaths. Breathing in, and out. Focusing on each breath as they become more and more relaxing."

I continued on helping him to relax, repeating mentions of breathing and relaxing. Eventually, I started on imagery, making him focus on specific body parts. The hypnosis-esque induction worked great, and I could hear his deep breaths.

"You're doing great, Pikachu. Next, the focus. I want you to focus on your body as a whole. Imagine an energy flowing throughout your body. Feel it stemming from your chest and going through all of your limbs, where it exits. Focus on this energy. Feel its warmth. Follow it with your mind."

I continued this for about 10 minutes, keeping his focus on the imaginary energy. Once I stopped, I let him continue himself. It was kind of funny, seeing such a personality so relaxed.

As Pikachu meditated, I decided to work on my own body. The spearow made me realize I had been too lax in my training. My training was fairly simple, I ran as fast as I could through the forest, weaving through trees, leaping from branches; I did all of this for as long as I could.

20 minutes passed, and I was exhausted. It wasn't easy to keep your top pace for so long; I felt a bit guilty about my reaction to Pikachu. That vanished when I realized he probably didn't even know _how_ to use his full strength. I walked up to Pikachu and gently shook him. His eyes blinked open, getting accustomed to the sunlight. I was surprised to see a yellow energy dancing across his pupils like lightning. As he awoke, however, the energy dimmed down, revealing his normal blue irises.

 _Yellow? Well it's not aura, that would be blue. I'm gonna have to meditate with him tonight and see if I can sense his energy._

"Welcome back to the world of the living, little guy." I lightly paced, "We'll be starting the next portion of your training. Everyone knows that a pikachu specializes in speed and that it doesn't get much strength until it evolves into a raichu. But if one could actually manage to get a pikachu strong, it would give your opponents a nasty surprise. After all, who'd expect a puny pikachu to pack a punch? So for our next exercises, we'll be focusing on raw strength. Given your current strength, we'll do basic things like pushups and pull ups."

"Pika!"

The next half hour consisted purely of strength exercises. Although I could tell Pikachu was struggling, he seemed to have gotten more motivated at some point and was trying harder. Who knows, maybe it was because of the meditation.

By the end, Pikachu was collapsed in a puddle of sweat.

 _He's gonna need a lot of work. We'll have to continue this schedule for a while before he's ready for an actual battle._

I leaned over him, "Okay, that's enough for today. As much as I'd love to continue, we need to get to Pewter City to get Misty's bike repaired."

Pikachu didn't respond, instead deciding that the grass was quite comfortable and closed his eyes.

I sighed for the nth time that day, "Fine, get some rest. We'll be leaving in an hour though, and I would prefer you not to be soaked in sweat, so I'd advise resting in the river if anywhere."

With that being said, I left to go find Misty.

o0O-O0o

I was surprised to find her in the Pokemon Center. She was happily sitting on a bench, wearing a surprisingly girly dress. I decided to ignore it for the time being, despite it how odd it seemed.

"Hey Misty, you about ready to leave?"

Misty gave a twirl, showing off her dress, and giggled, "Of course! I'm ready whenever you are!"


	6. Chapter 6: Disadvantage?

**A/N: Questions!**

 **Guest:** **This is interesting for sure but I think misty is better as a tomboy then being all girly the tomboy personality she has in the anime suits her better that's just my opinion tho and out of curiosity will ash and misty end up together later down the road poke shipping is my main favorite shipping.**

 _ **Like I said in the final A/N, Misty's girly for a reason. She actually is a tomboy; her being girly right now actually pertains to the storyline. She won't permanently be girly, don't worry, this just leads into a huge part of her role. A part I'm still not entirely sure how to introduce...**_

 _ **They probably won't end up together, no. The idea behind this story is Ash fighting an organization he knows hardly anything about, but knows everything about him, so romance would be pretty hard to pull off. However, they will have a strong relationship (which I may turn into romance) which will show later down the road.**_

 **That's it for questions...or question...Let's get onto the story already!**

 **Just Another Pawn**

 **Edited as of 3/26/2018**

 **Chapter 6: Disadvantage?**

Misty. Girly. These words to do not fit.

 _What the hell? Misty is far from a girly girl. Heck, her not being girly was one of the reasons she was shunned in her own city!_ _Maybe I...misread her? Or she just has mental issues or something. Ugh, I can worry about this later, I need to stay focused on my upcoming gym battle._

"Great! Go get your stuff. We'll head out!"

o0O-O0o

The week passed fairly quickly on the way to Pewter City. Misty continued to act incredibly girly - which still confused me to great lengths - but hadn't done anything to impede me. Sadly, she wasn't as knowledgeable about water pokemon as I'd hoped; at least, not to a larger extent than myself.

As to her behavior, I believed I may have triggered a traumatic event. Perhaps I reminded her of someone in her past? Still, it was quite strange.

We were on our way to the Gym to get my first badge. I had Pikachu and my new pidgeotto for a fight against ground pokemon. I bad type match-up, true, but I had a couple cards ready to be played. Never let it be said that I ever go into battle without a strategy.

Misty was skipping next to me with a happy-go-lucky attitude. Although I was getting used to this new personality, I still couldn't help but get unnerved by it. It seemed almost...forced. Inconsistent. She was either _very_ girly, or moderately girly - never in between.

As we approached the gym, I felt surprisingly underwhelmed. I knew gyms didn't always have great funding, but this was pretty low. It was pretty much just a large rock with two vertical metal beams on either side, and double doors in the center. Not exactly the prettiest of places.

Walking inside, I was happy to see that it wasn't as bad as the outside. It consisted of a natural looking floor made of dirt and rock, a podium in the back for the gym leader, and raised bleachers on the left and right. Not extraordinary, but pleasantly simple.

"Are you here for a pokemon battle?" a voice echoed from the back of the gym.

Assuming that to be the Gym Leader, I allowed a slight smirk to appear on my face, "Yes, I am."

The Leader stared at me for a few seconds, before looking at the pikachu on my shoulder, "I sincerely hope you don't plan to use that pikachu in this fight. How long have you had it?"

I rolled my eyes. Although I didn't want to seem disrespectful, it was annoying to get brushed to the side so easily.

"I do plan on fighting with Pikachu, he's my strongest pokemon. As for your question, I've had him for about 2 weeks."

He glared at me, "You can't win."

I glared back, "And _you_ are obligated to accept my challenge."

"Fine."

As if I wasn't important enough, he threw his pokeball onto the stadium without letting the referee announce the match. Technically this made the match unofficial, but I trusted the Gym Leader not to cut corners like that.

I grabbed the pokeball on my belt, gripping it with more strength than intentional. I felt myself freeze. My hand clenched harder, my heart rate quickened, small beads of sweat started to appear on my forehead. I could feel my anxiety rising.

 _Come on, Ash, you can do this. You've gone over the plan countless times; it's no different than practice._

I'd had absolute faith in my strategy, but I was at a type disadvantage nonetheless. I brought in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, working over the sudden anxiety. I slowly withdrew the ball. After allowing my heart rate to slow down, I threw the pokeball onto the stage.

The pokeball opened with a flash of light revealing a pidgeotto.

The Leader frowned, "A flying type? Fine. Geodude, end it with Rock Throw."

At the command, Geodude started digging rocks out of the earth to throw. Pidgeotto deftly tilted her body to drift away from the thrown rocks, effectively dodging them.

"Sir, I will beat you with three steps. Step one: Although rock may be super-effective against flying, that is made null if a hit cannot be made."

"That may be true, but _that_ is made null if you aren't fast enough to dodge. Geodude, pick up the pace."

And just like that, Geodude started throwing the rocks at twice the speed as before. In response, Pidgeotto's moves became faster, and she started to using her wings to gently redirect the rocks that got too close.

"Number 2: Flying pokemon have a weaker physical strength than most pokemon due to their hollow bones. However, by only giving your rocks some redirection, it's possible for even a flying type to block them."

The Leader gave a smirk, "You're better than I thought, I'll give you that, but I feel that you may be underestimating me. And the name's Brock, you've earned that information."

"Ash Ketchum."

Brock threw his arm out in a commanding fashion, "Geodude, don't pack the rocks!"

 _...what?_

The now loose rocks flew through the air and broke apart mid-flight. By the time the rocks would reach Pidgeotto, one had become five.

I grit my teeth. I knew I wouldn't be able to predict everything, but this was a move I'd never even _thought_ about before!

"Pidgeotto! Get out of there!"

Hearing the urgency of my command, Pidgeotto stopped deflecting, and started to retreat, getting clipped by the new rocks.

Brock smiled, "You know, Ash, I haven't had this much fun in a battle for a long time, but all good things must come to an end. Geodude, throw harder!"

I watched as the velocity of the rocks picked up for the second time that match. I desperately observed them, looking for a way to counter.

 _One rock becomes several. Through air resistance. Air._

I smirked, "Sorry Brock, but you've forgotten that you're facing a flying type. Pidgeotto, Gust!"

Brock's eyes widened slightly in realization as the smaller rocks and debris were pushed back at Geodude covering him in a layer of packed dirt and stone.

I grinned, "Though your new rocks cover more area, they're more susceptible to wind. This is my win."

The rocks fell onto Geodude, immobilizing him. The packing on Geodude continued to get thicker as dirt and dust from the ground to piled onto him. I let out my breath, the match was proving to be far tougher than I had imagined.

About ten seconds had passed, and the referee still hadn't called the match. I turned to look at him, only to see a smug grin on his face; a grin that was mimicked by Brock.

"Ash, how many times are you going to underestimate me~? Geodude, stop pretending."

I watched in horror as Geodude removed the rocks covering him.

 _That shouldn't be possible! No Geodude should be able to lift dirt and rock when so thoroughly covered! They're not that strong!_

As if reading my mind, Brock answered my question, "As the first gym leader, I'm not allowed to have a pokemon above the first evolution, nor can I train my pokemon to become too strong. However, I can train them in a specific aspect to a large degree. In this case, I have trained my geodude to have exceptional arm strength, if under-par defense."

 _Dammit Oak, you could have taught me more about gym battles._

Despite my clear annoyance about the turn of events there was something in Brock's monologue that gave me an idea, though risky.

 _Under-par defense..._

"Pidgeotto, this is our last shot, so give it everything you got!"

Pidgeotto ruffled her wings and got ready, while Brock watched with clear interest and amusement across his face.

"Gust and Tackle! You know what I mean!"

Pidgeotto turned around and brought back her wings, then threw them forth in a powerful gust of wind, pushing her towards Geodude with more speed than she could muster otherwise. Taking advantage of the newly gained speed, Pidgeotto turn to face her opponent and started her Tackle, leaving a streak of silver to follow her.

Brock looked on in confusion. The streak seemed to indicate a quick attack, but Pidgeotto radiated more power than that. It was as if a new move was created.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Brock remained motionless as Pidgeotto slammed into Geodude, causing a cloud of dust to arise. I stood still in a puddle of anxiety, unaware of what the outcome would be.

The dust started to settle, and the answer was clear; it was a tie. I was disappointed I hadn't won the fight, but relieved to know I hadn't lost either.

"You fought well, much better than expected. Know this, there were several points where I could have taken you out, be thankful."

Pity. Dammit.

I quietly and mechanically grabbed the pokeball off my belt to retrieve Pidgeotto, simultaneously allowing Pikachu to run onto the stadium where Geodude had already been returned. I was scared. I knew my plan for Pikachu was more solid that Pidgeotto's, but I still contained a feeling of impending doom. Anxiety. I patiently waited for Brock to release his pokemon.

With a flash a red light, Brock's onix appeared; a large serpent-like pokemon consisting of boulders. He had both the size advantage and the type advantage over Pikachu.

Brock heaved a sizeable sigh, "I understand that you enjoy tactics and strategy, that was obvious from the start, but why are you purposely giving yourself a disadvantage?"

"To test."

Shifting his head down in disappointment, Brock lightly motioned with his hand to Onix. Understanding his trainer's intentions, Onix started advancing towards Pikachu. Being quite large and bulky, Onix wasn't exactly fast, giving Pikachu plenty of time to follow out the plan.

Without an order, he quickly dashed to his left, easily avoiding the snake.

Brock tilted his head, "Do you think you can win with just Agility?"

I found it impossible to resist the slight smile appearing on my face, "That wasn't agility."

Brock paused for a moment before realizing what I was implying, "Onix, wrap Pikachu, now!"

Understanding Brocks urgency, Onix dashed twice as fast as before to catch Pikachu, only for him to dash away in a blur of white.

"I haven't trained Pikachu in strength yet, only in speed. It's amazing what someone can do when motivated correctly."

Brock felt a feeling of dread; an instinct that told him to run.

"Onix, Dig!"

 _Man, am I really that transparent? Maybe the foreshadowing was a little much…_

"Brock, I specifically trained Pikachu with this fight in mind. With this guy's potential, you have _no_ moves I can't counter. Pikachu, close your eyes.

Brock watch on in confusion as Pikachu shut off his primary sense. Pikachu started to sway slightly as he let himself get carried by the sounds around him.

His ears twitched before he jumped straight into the air, followed by Onix.

"Onix, switch to Wrap!"

Instead of moving into to ram Pikachu, Onix's rock chain changed into coil, allowing pikachu to fall straight into his strangle.

Brock smirked, "It's over. Onix."

And just like that, Pikachu was caught. Brock's disguised wrap attack worked like a charm. Despite being caught, I wasn't worried.

"Brock, do you know what aura is?"

He looked puzzled, "Vaguely. It's said to be the energy that flows through all living beings, why?"

"Pikachu, hit him."

With a swift strike of his paw, Onix roared in pain and let go of Pikachu. However, where Pikachu had yellow fur, it now had a blue tint to it.

_1 Week Previous_

"Pikachu, I've decided on how to use you against the gym leader. After meditating with you last night, I was able to confirm that you have aura, but not traditional aura. To put it in simple terms, traditional aura could be considered 'fighting type'. However, your aura more closely relates to 'electric type'. I would like to explore this aura and test out a theory of mine."

Apparently whenever he used an electric type move, he was channeling aura into the attack. It was quite strange that there had been no documentations of this discovery, but I chalked that up to aura and pokemon being considered two different sciences, and aura having very little study.

While that was all fine, aura has a special property: malleability. So malleable, in fact, that people are able to absorb another person's aura with surprising efficiency. With this in mind, I wanted to see if I could give pikachu some of my 'fighting type' aura to use against Onix.

Although it took a couple of days, my theory proved to be sound. After meditating and transferring energy to him for about 5 hours straight, I was able to give him one good blow. I was hoping to make the process more efficient in the future, but this already blew my expectations out of the water. I had expected the transition to be harder.

With this new energy concept in mind, I made a vast difference to my plan against the Gym Leader.

_Present_

I watched as pikachu put up a show of the aura, flaring it with intensity. This would only worked for a single blow, but Brock didn't need to know that. It was amusing as hell to see Brock's shocked face though.

"Don't underestimate me Brock, I'm not an average trainer. Pikachu, finish the fight."

Pikachu jumped onto the onix and proceeded toward his head, leaving a faint stream of aura in his wake. Before he could reach, he was stopped.

"I forfeit."

Brock's hand was in the air, already returning his pokemon. I gave a satisfied smirk; not all battles were won through fighting.

I crossed my arms in satisfaction and let pikachu onto my shoulders, "Good move. If you didn't forfeit, I was going to question your credibility as a gym leader."

Adrenaline suddenly rushed through my veins.

 _What?!_

Pain. Panic. Terror. Anxiety filled my body at a rapid pace. It was hard to stand straight. The area around me...it was turning blue. Pikachu stood stock still. Rocks, wind, debris, it was all slowing to a stop.

 _Concentrate._

I felt myself pause as my brain focused on deducing the objective of the man.

 _Brock is likely the man from five years ago. This is the test. I need to make an impression. Failure will likely result death._

 _I wasn't given any hints to the test, so it's safe to assume he wants a straight fight. If it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he'll get._

I set Pikachu onto the ground and dashed forward in a flash of blue, forcing as much aura into my legs as I could. Fighting back the burning sensation, I pulled my arm back in preparation for confrontation.My fist approached Brock's gut, only for him to parry the strike with his right forearm and flank accordingly. Expecting a similar punch, I let myself drop forward into a roll, swinging my left arm to intercept the assumed attack. As expected, my arm - coupled with the force of my roll - guided his punch away from my body. I let my right arm support me on the ground and swung my legs clockwise to disrupt his footing. Brock instinctively jumped back roughly 10 feet to dodge and avoid any possible follow-ups.

"You're impressive, Ash. It looks like I made a good choice in choosing you. But don't mess up, I won't hesitate to kill you."

I ran back in for a second confrontation, filling my body with even more aura. I'd never used so much aura for my actions before; the pain was excruciating.

As I neared him, Brock leaned to his right and turned into a roundhouse kick aimed at my side. I quickly changed my punch into a dive to roll away, feeling my side slide past his with a slight shock. My eyes widened momentarily in surprise.

 _A spark? Residue from Pikachu's….?_

I flipped out of the roll to land on my feet and channeled aura into my torso.

 _Heh, so Pikachu left me a gift before my fight? How thoughtful._

I closed my eyes and switched to reliance on my ears for Brock's position. As I awaited his attack on my person, I concentrated on separating the minute electrical aura, and augmenting it to make it fit my needs.

I heard him dash forwards, not holding anything back despite my closed eyes. Once he was roughly 2 feet away from me, I snapped my eyes open, staring ahead intensely. As his fist sailed for my head - a pretty obvious spot - I crouched and sent my hand up to strike his arm, but only clipped it. That was all I needed. Brock's eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

He quickly jumped back, his right arm dangling in paralysis, "I'd say you passed. It's been awhile since I've had a limb disabled in combat. However, I would have prefered you passed without luck. And don't expect your feigned blindness through concentration to work again."

I gave him a slight glare, "An uncommon occurrence giving a boost in fight is luck. Properly taking advantage of it is skill. And I don't expect it to, that was a spur of the moment tactic - which probably pertains to why you fell for it."

Brock waved his hand dismissively, "Yeah yeah, whatever. I'll see you tomorrow, Ash."

Before I knew what was happening, I was stricken from behind, effectively knocking me out.


	7. Chapter 7: Foundations of a Strategy

**A/N: Questions!**

 **'JustanothrJustin' has reviewed on every chapter with criticism, so I'll summarize his points to keep things short.  
CH1: There should have been more dialog with Prof. Oak. Maybe sarcastic banter.  
** _ **I definitely agree. The first chapter was done quite a long time ago. If (and hopefully when) I finish this fanfiction, I'll probably go through every chapter and edit, not just the rewording and spelling fixes I currently do.**_

 **Ch2: Give more examples of Ash using aura in front of his mother. Show Ash's age better, he sounds older.  
** _ **Yeah, I should have given more examples. I blame laziness. As for Ash's age, it's supposed to be implied that an outside force has 'jump-started' his intelligence (which will become**_ **far** _ **more clear when the story ends), but I do think I made him too mature.**_

 **Ch3: 5 year jump is too much. Ash's "You CANNOT kill my friend!" seem weird at this point in their relationship.  
** _ **Let's start on the jump, I have two reasons for its length. First, his main growth is throughout his journey, not during that period. Second, I plan to have flashbacks to his training that demonstrate 'moves' he wouldn't have done if Oak hadn't been present.  
As for his short speech, Ash was just trying to save the guy. His bravado was a way to get the spearow to feel sympathy. I just read it though, and it could have been written better (a lot of this could, actually).**_

 **Ch4: More information on him being a prodigy. Why was the girl at the hospital?  
** _ **She actually got him there, but the reason she stayed was because ash got her bike wrecked. This will actually be addressed in this chapter. As for him being a prodigy, there haven't been any points to showcase it between ch1-4. Chapter 5 will show some of it through the training, and Chapter 6 shows his strategic prowess.**_

 **Ch5: Maybe this chapter should have come earlier?  
** _ **It couldn't have been right after getting Pikachu...he was kinda busy. As for why it's taken this long to reach this, I'm trying to give a solid background for what happens. I hate it when stories make up random back stories to support a random idea they have.**_

 _ **Ch6: Actually, he had no criticisms for this. He enjoyed it. As for when chapter 7's coming out...well...**_

 **** **Just Another Pawn**

 **Edited as of 3/26/2018**

 **Chapter 7: Foundations of a Strategy**

"Nngghh," I groaned.

I blearily blinked my eyes open to reveal a plain hospital room.

 _Again? Really?_

Sitting up, I saw a face I wasn't sure whether to be happy about seeing: Brock. Well, him and Misty.

"Welcome back. That looked like quite a hit you took."

I glared at him, "Yeah, I wonder why _that_ would be. Why am I in a hospital for an accident _you_ caused? I can't imagine it being an easy to explain story."

 _Unless hospitals know about aura guardians._

Brock smiled innocently, "Well technically that was my friend. To answer your question though, you had a strange fainting spell after our fight."

 _Fainting spell, eh? If even hospitals don't know about aura, who does?_

"Whatever, I have stuff I need to get done."

With that said, I decided to sign out of the hospital. The nurses wanted me to stay to find the cause of my "fainting spell", but weren't able to legally keep me against my will; a stay to learn about a fake story didn't exactly seem appealing. I learned Brock was kind enough to get my pokemon healed up while I was out. I was having a hard time getting a read on him. He freezes me with almost no explanation, appears 5 five years later to beat me up, then tries to be my friend. If that doesn't say "ulterior motive", I don't know what does.

A mere half hour had passed and I was already training. Having two pokemon enabled me to have them train offence and defense against each other, leaving me to take care of other things. I presently had them doing a simple exercise consisting of Pikachu shooting weak Thundershocks at Pidgeotto, who'd dodge; this was a great way to help them on their given advantages.

I was sitting on a stump with a notepad, writing down ideas as to what had happened during Pidgeotto's fight. It seemed as though she had managed to create a new attack, or at least modified an existing one. It had already become obvious to me that "pokemon moves" were different manipulations of a pokemon's aura. From what I could tell, Pidgeotto's quick transition between moves, coupled with an abrupt increase in speed, had caused the aura to form differently from normal.

"Whatcha writin'?"

I shot forward in surprise and turned to see Brock's usual smug look.

 _He snuck up on me. Just how much better is he?_

I gave him a glare, "If you must know, I'm working on what Pidgeotto did during our fight. I'm sure you noticed the off coloring."

Brock's face turned serious, "Yeah, I did. I've been around aura and pokemon since the day I was born, and I've never seen something like that. What's your theory?"

I turned to my notebook, gathering the information I was willing to part with, "To put it simply, she used aura. She used it to somehow 'mix' the two moves into one."

Brock gave a glare mimicking mine from before, "Don't lie to me, Ash. If that was the case, there would be many reports of the phenomenon."

I sighed, "What do you know about pokemon moves."

He raised an eyebrow, "They're abilities pokemon learn through training and experience."

"Well...not quite. Through my research, I've begun to believe that pokemon manipulate their own aura to create 'pokemon moves'. As to why they're always the same, I believe that to be from genetic code. I've been teaching my pokemon to use their aura intentionally, so she probably mixed the two moves by accident."

"What makes you think it was by accident?"

My eyes widened slightly in shock.

 _He's right! I assumed that the move was unintentional, but it actually makes more sense to assume it was on purpose!_

I quickly started jotting more notes, "You're right! If this was on purpose, it's safe to assume it's possible to create, or at least modify abilities! And if she was able to do it already, it goes to stand that creation of new moves could be a simple and fast process!"

Brock winced, "No, it wouldn't. Like you said, those two moves are probably in her genes. It would make sense if the combination of them stemmed more from instinctual knowledge of the moves rather than knowledge of aura manipulation."

 _He's...right. He's fixing my assumptions. I'm regaled as a genius in my hometown, and yet I'm managing to make baseless assumptions that get corrected by someone I haven't even known for 24 hours._

"Yeah, I guess that does make things a tad harder. Hell, it may not even be possible! Whatever the-"

I was rudely interrupted by Onix, a _giant rock snake_ , bursting out of the ground where my pokemon were training.

I cast a glance to Brock with an eyebrow raised, "Is that really necessary?"

Pikachu sat on my shoulder with faint hue of white fading around him, completely unharmed, leaving a confused onix to look around for him.

"Pikachu relies heavily on hearing; Dig won't catch him off guard very easily."

Brock smirked, "I chose the right person. I expect you'll continue advancements on aura?"

I matched his smirk with my own, "Yeah. Don't expect me to give you all the information though; I'm not giving away my edge that easily."

And with a blink of my eyes, Brock was gone. Nothing was left but the slight breeze of his departure and an indent in the grass where he once stood.

 _Why is only this grass indented? Did he_ jump _away? And when did he return Onix?_

I stood there dumbfounded. Strategy or not, there was a vast difference between our power.

o0O-O0o

I left for Flint's store with Brock and Misty on my right and left sides respectively; Misty for her bike, and Brock for directions. Pikachu was practicing stealth by tailing us as discreetly as he could (not that discreetly as far as I'm concerned).

The store looked reminiscent of a run-of-the-mill gift shop, but with the addition of a small concrete area to the right containing bikes and similar vehicles. The bikes didn't look exceptional by any means, and I wouldn't expect a gift shop owner to be particularly great at engineering, but Oak's wisdom greatly exceeded my own, making the stop at least worth a shot.

Brock opened the door for us - prompting a curtsy from Misty - welcoming us to the stuffy atmosphere expected of such a store. Walking up to the reception desk, I was greeted to the sight of a middle-aged man with an abundance of poorly kept facial hair. I don't like judging by appearances, but this was becoming less and less credible.

"Excuse me, but could I speak to a man named Flint?"

The man gave me a monotonal response, "You're lookin' at him, kid. Wha' do you want."

"Err, Professor Oak recommended you to repair my bike. Are you available?" I asked, more unsure as time passed.

His tone grew more interested, "You Ash?" I nodded. "I've been expecting you. Give me the bike, I'll have it repaired in a few days' time. Won't be cheap though."

With some reassurance coming back, I lifted the bike and set it against a wall.

Flint looked at me with a realization dawning, "Professor Oak didn't tell you about me, did he?"

I looked at him confusedly. He pressed a button beneath his desk. On cue, a rectangular portion of the wall next to him folded forward onto the ground with a conveyor belt on its back.

I looked on in awe, "...Well damn. Exactly how much is this going to cost me?"

"For a student of Oak's? 45000 Poke-dollars."

I gave a slight wince at the cost he was offering.

 _Geeze, Oak wasn't kidding when he said this guy was expensive._

"This is what I get for taking a bicycle, I guess," I groaned, handing over practically my life's savings.

Brock, who had only been glaring until now, spoke a single word to stop any proceedings, "Dad."

 _Oh come on! I just started my pokemon journey, can't the drama come later?!_

Flint gave a smirk that looked eerily similar to Brock's, "So you've decided to acknowledge my presence? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Brock continued his glare, "The Aura Guardians need your help."

 _Stop the drama! Please!_

"Oh? And what are you paying for my services?"

Brock ground his teeth, "A safe world."

Flint chuckled, "Sorry boy, that ain't gonna cut it. Either you cough up some money, or you can take a hike."

"Is this some sort of joke to you?!" Brock shouted, "The world is close to destruction, and the only thing you can think about is cash? Have human decency for a change! All the money in the world won't buy mom ba-!"

Flint swiftly struck Brock's face, bringing about a look of shock that seemed to freeze time itself.

"Shut it, boy," he glared,"I know you hate me for leaving your mother, but you had better learn to shut the f %$ up about other people's business. I don't give a damn about her, and never will. You can leave my shop and forget about any help to your little club."

Brock fumed, growing red in the face. Without a word of retaliation, he quickly left the house, going anywhere but there.

Flint turned to me sheepishly, "Sorry about that, we don't exactly have the best relationship. I'll send you the bike in through delivery as an apology."

I gave a nod, showing a serious attitude to the situation. On the inside, however, there was a different story going on.

 _Holy shit! Talk about an unstable relationship! Though, considering what I've seen of Flint's technology, Brock may have been right to consider this guy as a potential ally..._

Not wanting to chat in the now sour atmosphere, I walked to the door to leave.

"The old water mill."

I twisted my body to look back at Flint, only to find an empty store. Without giving the lack of appearance a second thought, I left.

I was unable to sense Brock's aura, but Flint's piece of advice about the water mill came in handy. I hadn't actually been aware that there _was_ one, so I had to ask for directions from a few pedestrians.

Several minutes later, I approached a torn, broken down building at the edge of a drying river. If it weren't for the wheel sprawled against the ground, and already knowing what this place was, I wouldn't have guessed it had been a water mill.

Atop the roof sat Brock with his legs dangling into a hole. He looked...different. He was normally manipulative and well guarded, viewing interaction as a game to achieve his own goals. But now...he looked serene. His posture was lax, and even the faint aura I could sense from him was calm and tranquil.

"He told you where I was, eh?"

Having reached the building, I walked in and sat on a wooden bench - one of the only intact objects in the room.

Not wanting to respond to the rhetorical question, I asked my own, "Why here?"

Brock gave a short, sad laugh, "This place generated energy a few years ago. Back when my mother was here, my father ran the gym, and I barely had a f %$ing geodude. A time before I had responsibility forced upon my shoulders. The river here had started drying up at the time, so the mill had to be closed down while workers tried to find a way to keep the mill running. Without anyone manning the place, some idiot decided to come start the mill artificially to charge his electric type. A few minutes and a powerful electric attack later, the kid was in critical condition, and his pokemon were dead."

I chuckled darkly. Despite the sad fate to fall onto the kid, the idiocy of the situation made the story almost laughable.

"So how do you make your energy now?"

Brock shrugged, "To put it simply, we don't. Pewter is broke as hell, but having the most visited gym in the region gives a few perks. The Pokemon League gives us energy as payment for our work."

I raised an eyebrow, "As payment? Do you not get an actual pay?"

He sighed with disdain, "Tell me, Ash, how much did you pay to become a pokemon trainer, and eventually challenge my gym?"

"None...oh. Then where does the League get its money?"

"Pokemon tournaments. They're the only paid service we have. The president, Mr. Goodshow, also gives support with some of the companies he owns in other regions."

"Pokeballs?"

"Those are made by private organizations, so we don't get any money from those sales."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Then why not just stop running the League if it costs so much?"

"To make a balance. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The League is the closest thing we have to a government, and they know that. They're also aware that they could easily become tyrannical, thus they keep the League running to keep themselves in check. Now if they try to force tyrannical rule, they'll be stopped by pokemon trainers."

I furrowed my brow once more, one thing wasn't adding up, "When we first met, you said the League was corrupt, but now you're treating it like a business just trying to get by. Why is that?"

"They don't make enough money."

"Excuse me?"

Brock turned to face me for the first time, and stared me dead in the eye, "The money that goes into the League still isn't enough to keep it running. That friend of mine who died? His body and pokemon were never found. The League is tra-"

"-Trafficking pokemon, and human organs?" I cut him off.

Brock turned back to the river, "Yeah."

"Using tyrannical tactics to stop themselves from becoming tyrants, how ironic," I laughed bitterly.

The conversation was halted by the view of the sunset radiating across the river and horizon. It was a surprisingly appropriate match to the atmosphere; it reminded me of the beauty I wanted to protect.

We sat in silence for a long minute before I spoke, "How do we stop them without ruining the balance?"

"We make a new one. The League itself isn't completely corrupt yet, I suspect the trafficking will stop if they get a higher income, or lose the need of such a cost in the first place. We need to put a new balance in place, one that doesn't run off of the League."

"Just add another power."

Brock turned to me with a questioning gaze, "What?"

"You have a weaker power, the League, and a stronger power, the trainers. The trainers, despite having more power, are only organized enough to form a defence to keep the League in check, not for an offence. All you need now is a regulator. An even weaker power unknown to the other two that keeps them from becoming too powerful."

Brock rolled his eyes, "And if the unknown power becomes known? Or builds up its own power?"

I frowned, "It might need a little ironing..."

Brock turned to the river once more. We didn't speak a single word as the sun finished its trek. With darkness filling the night, I left Brock to his thoughts, and went to find my previous stump to compile and organize the notes I had been taking. This would have been finished earlier, but with Brock's realizations, the visit to Flint's, and our conversation, I hadn't had the time to do so.

 _Notes_

 _Pokemon Aura:_

 _From what I can tell, 'pokemon moves' are simply different uses of aura. This would imply possible changes to the moves and possibly move creation, but it would take a lot of learning about aura manipulation. Maybe I can utilize their instinctual knowledge?_

 _Misty:_

 _She is quite the anomaly. Her girly attitude has stayed consistent over the past couple weeks, but it still puts me on edge. It just feels...forced. I am starting to doubt my theory of triggering some sort of traumatic event, I can't imagine a change would last this long. This leads to believe her change may have something to do with aura, similar to my change 5 years ago. Perhaps the aura guardians plan to use her as well?_

 _Cerulean City:_

 _Considering Misty's change, I am quite concerned as to what Cerulean City is like, and Oak has yet to contact me with information. I am curious as to how the city will react to Misty's new changes though. According to her, the City made her a pariah due to her sister's popularity. Whatever happens, it's sure to be interesting._

"Geeze, a couple weeks into my journey, and it's already hectic. Well, Cerulean comes next! Wait, there's a mountain in the way. ...Son of a-!"


	8. Chapter 8: Caves

**A/N: Qestions!**

 **Guest:**

 _Fox: Will there be a Larvitar in this story?_ _  
_ _I absolutely love that Pokemon_

 _ **This story is purely based in Kanto, so other regions' pokemon will be very rare, if present at all. So probably not.**_

 **Well, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Just Another Pawn**

 **Chapter 8: Caves**

Brock, Misty, and I were on the pathway leading out of Pewter city and into Mt. Moon. I particularly disliked this place, it was perfect fuel for my irrational fear of caves. Actually, no! It's not irrational! I wouldn't be surprised if Satan himself made them as a demented labyrinth to torture unborn children!

...Okay, a little irrational. Anyways, it was for this reason I studied the interior of the mountain for weeks before my journey, and even brought a detailed map from one of the top researchers who worked here when it was first explored in-depth. I wanted to be out of there as quickly as possible.

Nonetheless, we found ourselves at a sign reading 'Mount Moon'. Considering there was only one major mountain in Kanto, I found the sign to be quite annoying. It sounded as condescending as me.

A man a few years older than Brock was sat cross-legged at the entrance to the mountain, "I wouldn't enter if I were you."

I raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"Men have been known to work here in the past. Some guys were diggin' and cavin' in search of somethin'. If ya don't want to get caught up in that, don't go in."

I sighed, "It's not like there's another way to Cerulean. Thanks for the heads up, but I think we'll go in anyways."

The man stayed sitting as I passed him, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

The cave was exactly as I had expected; a dark hole in the wall that didn't allow for visibility more than a few feet. Already prepared for the masochist's dream, I pulled out my flashlight and map, and started moving through at the fastest walk I could muster.

"A~Ash!" Misty called, "Slow down! You shouldn't rush a lady!"

Brock joined in, "She's right, Ash. Warnings from suspicious men should be taken seriously."

I turned and looked at him blankly, "I seem to recall a suspicious man warning me 5 years ago."

He waved off the retort, "Still, there's no rush. You should take time to smell the roses."

He walked passed me with his own flashlight and Misty trailing behind him.

 _But we're in a cave, there's nothing even remotely pleasant._

I reluctantly followed them, grumbling quietly about the ordeal. Though I wouldn't admit it out loud, Brock was right. Rushing doesn't make progress go faster, it just gives it a lower quality.

I walked using only the sound of their footsteps, sulking all the while. Considering these two lived on either side of the mountain, at least one of them was bound to know the route, so I didn't have much of a need to use my map.

Our trek had barely lasted 10 minutes before Brock stopped us, "Ash, check this out."

I saw him observing the wall of a perpendicularly connected cave, "It's another cave wall. Great. Let's move on."

Brock looked at me with amusement, silently basking in his higher skill, "Tell me Ash, what do you notice about this wall?"

I wanted to ignore him in spite, but I ignored such a petty thought, and looked at the newly appeared wall anyways. Shock soon made its way onto my face, "It's...smooth."

Misty looked at us unknowingly, "Umm, so what?"

I gave her a glance before walking to the intersection of the walls, "Look at the walls of the cave we were just walking through. They're jagged and rough, a stark contrast to the relative smoothness of these."

"Umm, I still don't get it."

I sighed, "Tell me, Misty, why would one cave be rough, whilst the other is smooth?"

She scrunched her eyebrows cutely, "One was dug by scientists?"

I winced slightly, "Almost. It means these were man-made. Digging was quickly outlawed here because of suspected traces of moonstone contained in the walls, with the exception of taking samples. In other words, that man's warning probably held some merit."

Brock chuckled, "Ahh, but you're missing something, Ash. What else have you noticed in these caves?"

 _Dammit, how does he always know something I don't?_

I glared at him, "This is the only abnormality."

"What are the clefairy catch rates?"

My eyes widened, "There aren't enough pokemon!"

Misty, ever the oblivious girl, glanced between us once again "Will you guys please fill me in?"

Taking the lead once more, I explained, "Clefairy, whilst uncommon, aren't classified as rare. In fact, the only thing making them uncommon is people's unwillingness to come into the mountain. We should have at least heard, if not seen one by now."

Brock finished the evaluation, "The people who dug here probably took all of the pokemon without registering them. That way they could sell the clefairy, making the catch rates seem normal, without people realizing the clefairy were being taken. Hell, I'd put money on saying they took the moonstone too."

I looked back down to sulk again, "Why can't I do anything without running into drama?"

Brock flashed me a winning smile, "You're travelling with a genius, Ash!"

I stopped and looked at him, "Actually, why _are_ you travelling with us? Don't you have a gym to lead? Ya'know, as a _Gym Leader_?"

Brock looked at me with legitimate shock, "Why would I leave you on your own? I didn't pop up 5 years ago as a prank, I'm here to help progress your training."

"That….makes sense." 

Misty looked at me with even more shock than Brock, "Hold on, Brock tagged along without you even realizing? How does that even work?"

"Well, I….Umm...I actually don't know. It just felt...natural."

Brock knelt to the ground with fake tears in his eyes, "You accepted me without a second thought! This is everything I've ever wanted!"

 _Why does it have to be him to continue my training? I don't need another condescending asshole._

Without seeing a change in position, I saw Brock continue into the newly appeared cave as if nothing had happened.

 _Or a show off. Can't forget about that..._

Though I knew there would likely be incriminating evidence within the new tunnel, I was very tempted to just continue on the path we were headed in. This was not a place I wanted to stay in for any longer than I had to. Despite my hesitation, I ultimately went into the new cave.

I looked at my map and swore, "Shit. These tunnels aren't documented. We're going in blind. Ugh."

Brock looked back at me, "Wow, the illegally created caves aren't documented? What a discovery!"

 _Ugh._

The extra time spent in the mountain turned out to be worth our while. We found bits a scrap metal littered throughout, which we assumed to be broken off from the machinery used to tunnel. Brock and Misty had very different reactions to these findings. Misty looked surprised and scared at the operation that had run here. Brock, however, lacked any shock whatsoever. In fact, he seemed to be more focused on continually one-upping me.

I dragged my feet across the rocky floor and asked for the umpteenth time, "Are we done yet? Can we leave?"

 _I hate mountains._

"Hold on," Brock held out his arm to stop me.

I looked at him in confusion, then to where we were going. The tunnel we were in opened up into a large room containing a sizable white rock with a faint yellow glow.

Misty looked on in awe, "...The Moonstone."

I looked back down and continued to drag my feet, "No, it's fake. It doesn't have the aura of the moonstone."

Brock knelt down onto the floor, and ran his hand against some loose dirt, "...What the hell happened?"

Brock's demeanor was always carefree and cocky, so the change in attitude gave him my attention immediately, "What'd you find?"

He turned to me, "Bones. I think from a clefairy."

"Why would they kill the clefairy if they wanted to sell them?"

I reached down to my belt, and threw Pidgeotto's pokeball, releasing her with a flash of light.

"Pidgeotto, push the dust to the wall using Gust."

Wind picked up in the room from the powerful flaps of the wings, removing the dirt that had impeded our vision. All three of us looked on with wide eyes at what was revealed: bones. Everywhere.

Misty screamed, and jumped at me with the intent of being held. Not willing to be her plush toy, I stepped to the side and let her fall onto the ground with a crack.

 _Oh yeah, the bones. Whoops._

Without a second thought, I immediately knelt onto the ground to examine the carnage.

"These bo-"

"-Ash!" Misty interrupted, "What are you doing?! Let's leave!"

I didn't even bother looking at her, "I'm examining the bones, what else? We can leave after I'm finished."

I resumed my work on examination before continuing my assessment, "These bones are the result of decay, not destruction of skin."

Brock gave me a deadpanned look, "No shit. Who the hell would bother destroying the skin?"

 _Yes! I'm finally the one who knows more!_

I turned to face him, looking very pleased with myself, "Time. I had assumed, and I think you had too, that this had been done fairly recently - within the last year or so - but a body can take as long as eight to twelve years to decay."

Misty took her turn to notice the inconsistency, "But you guys were talking about the catch rates earlier! Wouldn't they have gone down a lot after so long?"

I looked at her approvingly, "You're very close, but the effect to the catch rates would be very subtle. There are two ways to obtain pokemon legally: catching, and trading - whether that trade be through currency or another pokemon. However, let's make the assumption that whoever took these clefairy used unregistered pokeballs. If a trainer traded one of their pokemon, let's say a caterpie, for the clefairy, the pokemon would essentially switch registrations. The Clefairy become registered, and the caterpie would become unregistered. So the drop rate there wouldn't be to the clefairy, but to a single caterpie. Though, this would also require them to have access to unregistered pokeballs that are identical to regular ones, which is an extremely difficult task. Alternatively, they could just occasionally catch one of their unregistered clefairy, and give it to someone for money, which would work just as well, but the selling of clefairy would be relatively easy to spot. In other words, there's no easy method of doing this subtly, but something is clearly happening."

Brock looked at me with doubt, "Are you implying that these people are working with Silph Co.? I find it hard to believe that such a big compan-"

"-I'm telling you, I heard someone over here! Stop complaining!" a man behind us in the cave spoke.

I met Brock's gaze, "We should go."

"Yeah."

After grabbing a few bones for further examination, we jogged out of the cave through the other connected tunnel. The people must've found what they were looking for, as the tunnel led straight out of the mountain (much to my relief).

As the light of the sun came into view, I looked out at the city that lay before us. It was Pewter.

"Are you F#*&ng kidding me?! We have to go back in?!"

Brock just stared at me in disbelief, "Is that seriously what you're worried about right now?"

I knelt down to the ground to sulk, "I hate caves…"

Now in a much worse mood than I had started with, we walked back to the entrance of the mountain. The old man was gone, which saved me from hearing the dreaded 'I told you so'.

The walk through back through the mountain was surprisingly easy despite the voice we had heard. To be frank, I entirely expected someone to come up and question us about why we were there. Though it wouldn't be hard to explain our reasons for using the only passage between the two cities, I suspected they didn't care much for our intended reason.

Regardless of the lack of questioning, the half hour of walking through the cave was easily one of the worst half hours of my life. I really. Hate. Caves.

Alas, we left the cave, allowing me to collapse onto the grass, "We're finally out. The nightmare is over. Ugghhhh."

"Ash...?" Brock's voice sounded.

I looked up at the city below the mountain. Several police helicopters were swarming around buildings, and the city itself seemed to be in something of a panic.

"...What the hell is going on?" 

_Notes_

 _Mt. Moon:_

 _Various pieces of evidence seem to suggest an illegal operation having been run at least 8 years ago based on body (and illegal) tunneling and scrap metal indicate machinery being used. The "Moonstone" is fake, as shown by its lack of aura, meaning it was taken. The lack of clefairy coupled with no visible change in catch rates indicates unofficial capture. Because the clefairy catch rates haven't changed, there are no (or very little) clefairy in the mountain, and how long ago I believe this to have happened, I think whoever did this has access to unregistered pokeballs. They either learned how to make them (most likely), or have access to Silph Co._


End file.
